Friends Who Are Going

Friends Attending

Friends Attending

Friends Attending

Description

Learn the ABCs of making indie film in this crash course in producing independent film with award winning local filmmaker Tess Girard. Participants will learn the process of taking a project from development to delivery from a producer’s perspective. Topics include story editing, pitching, crewing, securing locations, financing, budgets, scheduling, marketing and distribution. Focusing specifically on the particularities of documentary and hybrid, you will acquire the foundational knowledge to help guide you through independent production. The small seminar format will create space for participants to get feedback and insight on their own projects.

Tess Girard is an award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer. Her films have screened at festivals around the world, including the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Vancouver International Film Festival, Hot Docs, and the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema. Lying somewhere between documentary and experimental, Girard’s films challenge audiences to engage in the work on a highly personal level. Her films include unique multi-layered, audio-visual pieces that explore subject matter from a philosophical perspective. Titles include The Road to Webequie (TIFF 2016, BravoFACTUAL), Old Growth (TIFF 2012, Canada’s Top Ten 2012), A Simple Rhythm (Hot Docs 2011, supported by the NFB FAP Program) and Benediction (TIFF 2005, Best Production at the Montreal World Film Festival 2005, Best Cinematography Worldwide Short Film Festival 2006). Together with Ryan J. Noth, she co-founded the Prince Edward County-based Fifth Town Films Inc. Recently Girard was cinematographer on Adrienne Amato's Mbira Talks which shot in rural Zimbabwe. She also just completed the feature documentary As the Crow Flies (2016) with the National Film Board of Canada (to be released in 2017). http://www.tessgirard.com

This workshop is part of LIFT's Touring Filmmaking Workshops with media arts centers throughout Ontario. The touring program is generously supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF).